i5 540 vs i7 820?

This post is an extension of a question I asked in another thread regarding the viability of upgrading my G60JX BestBuy system to a faster CPU. Since everyone says it is possible, now I have to decide on the CPU....

I play mostly games...

The i5 540 runs cooler and at less power consumption. The con being that more apps in the future will take advantage of more cores.

The i7 820 runs a bit hotter and I believe at least or maybe faster than the i5?

Prices on both are close enough not to be a factor, so now my question is?way

Will the i7 820 be way too hot for my G60? Or would you guys opt for the i5?

Thanks from a noob!

 

I'd opt for the i5 for gaming, and the i7 for longevity - right now, games will love up the dual core. But in a year or so? The i7 will be better. And for anything other than games, 4(physical) cores is better than 2+hyperthreading.

I wouldn't expect the i7 to be supported on the mobo if it's already running an i5 ... wasn't there a problem with the g51s where the BB versions wouldn't take a quad? I know that was C2D/C2Qs, but I'd stick with the line of chip you've already got, and doublecheck to make sure it'll be supported.

 

itsfun has said he installed a 820QM in his G60JX and everthing works great.
pm him if you can find him.

 

This is mostly for programmers and geeks. But virtualization is not supported except in i7. So if you want to run a virtual machine with virtualized hardware, i7 is the way to go.

Just throwing that out there.

For gaming, majority of the new games will support multi-threading, using all 8 threads for i7.

I don't think the excuse for dual-core being better for games is valid anymore.

 

Thanks for the help! I just ordered the 820qm!